Iran strikes Kuwait airport, killing one and injuring dozens as Trump warns against escalation
Kuwait’s military reported that Iranian strikes on a terminal at its international airport resulted in the death of at least one person and injured 63 others, marking the first deadly attack in the Gulf since a ceasefire came into effect on April 8.
The US and Iran have also engaged in fresh missile and drone exchanges, further threatening the efforts to achieve a new ceasefire agreement between Washington and Tehran.
Donald Trump said in a Wednesday interview that discussions with Iran were ongoing, and he was not seeking escalation, adding: “We don’t need boots on the ground now.”
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Iran was “playing with fire” following the Kuwait attacks, and Trump might order a “full-scale return to military action” if negotiations fail. “It’s [Trump’s] decision: Israel is ready, and the US forces are ready,” he added.
Netanyahu also criticized European leaders like France’s Emmanuel Macron, who have voiced disapproval of the Israeli military campaign, saying, “the way European leaders cater to radical Islamic minorities in their own countries is shameful.”
He added: “They know we’re protecting them [by attacking Iran] as well, but they don’t have the courage to stand up and align themselves with the right thing that will save our civilization against these barbarians.”
Overnight, US forces launched a Hellfire missile to disable a tanker attempting to breach the American blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and later reported repelling Iranian retaliatory strikes and targeting sites on Iran’s Qeshm Island.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed to have attacked the US Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain with missiles and drones in retaliation for the strike on Qeshm, a claim the US military’s Central Command denied.
The latest exchange began when US Central Command (Centcom) reported targeting an unladen tanker – the Botswana-flagged M/T Lexie – on Tuesday.
Centcom stated an aircraft fired a missile to disable the tanker’s engine as it sailed through international waters toward Iran’s Kharg Island near Kuwait. The crew reportedly ignored repeated warnings over a 24-hour period. Iran retaliated with a drone strike on a passenger terminal at Kuwait’s airport.
Kuwait’s defense ministry spokesperson, Brig Gen Saud Abdulaziz Al-Atwan, described the attack as “criminal Iranian aggression which resulted in significant material damage to the building and injuries.”
Kuwait’s state news agency reported that civil aviation authorities had suspended traffic and redirected incoming flights to alternative airports.
A statement from Iran’s foreign ministry blamed Kuwait and Bahrain for the attacks, condemning what it called the “colonialist use by the United States of the territory and infrastructure of countries in the region to advance its aggressive plans against Iran.” It stated the incident “emphasizes the direct and unmistakable responsibility of the leaders of Kuwait and Bahrain for last night’s acts of aggression.”
Kuwait’s deputy foreign minister, Hamad Suleiman al-Mashaan, summoned Iran’s chargé d’affaires, Hamed Hamid Yaqoubi Far, to formally protest over Iran’s continued attacks. Kuwait also ordered a reduction in Iranian embassy staff, declared two Iranian diplomats persona non grata, and gave them 24 hours to leave the country, the foreign ministry said.
US forces also reported shooting down three one-way attack drones “launched by Iran toward civilian mariners that were rightfully transiting regional waters.”
The IRGC stated: “Late last night, the aggressive US military struck an Iranian oil tanker near the Strait of Hormuz with an aerial projectile, causing damage to the tanker’s engine room… these responses should serve as a lesson.”
The military adviser to Iran’s supreme leader threatened more missile and drone strikes should the US resume its attacks on Iran.
“Every shot fired and every attack will be met with a deluge of missiles and drones,” Mohsen Rezaee posted on X, adding that “the aggressor will swiftly be punished.”
Trump stated on Wednesday he would like to meet Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei. “I would like to meet him, and we probably will meet at some point, depending on how it all works out,” Trump told the New York Post’s Pod Force One podcast, adding: “I’m not hearing he’s doing great. If you believe the stories, he’s missing a lot of different parts.”
Khamenei is believed to have been seriously injured in the attack that killed his father, the former supreme leader Ali Khamenei, on the first day of the war.
The latest exchange of strikes highlights the lack of political progress in resolving the Middle East crisis, despite optimistic claims from the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, in his first appearance before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee since the US and Israel launched their war on Iran.
During congressional testimony on Tuesday, Rubio claimed the war in Iran “is over.”
Rubio reiterated claims on Tuesday that a deal was within reach and asserted Tehran had agreed to negotiate aspects of its nuclear program that it had previously refused to discuss.
Rubio said it was “not a guarantee that ultimately it will lead to a deal that’s acceptable,” but added: “There is the prospect before us, which could happen today, it could happen tomorrow, it could happen next week.”
His comments were in stark contrast to messaging from Iran, which has indicated it would suspend peace talks with the US in protest against Israel’s offensive in Lebanon, threatening the collapse of negotiations with Washington.
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, stated: “The ceasefire between Iran and the US is unequivocally a ceasefire on all fronts, including in Lebanon. Its violation on one front is a violation of the ceasefire on all fronts. The US and Israel are responsible for the consequences of any violation.”
Israeli warplanes have launched dozens of strikes across southern Lebanon despite the new agreement supposedly brokered by Trump aiming to bolster the tattered ceasefire in Lebanon.
The US President said on Monday he had aborted an imminent Israeli strike on Beirut and had spoken to Netanyahu and Hezbollah representatives who agreed that “all shooting will stop.”
But on Tuesday, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported 30 Israeli strikes across the south. Near the city of Sidon, rescuers recovered the bodies of six members of the same family, including two children and a woman, after an Israeli strike. Lebanon also reported an Israeli strike hit a location near Beirut on Wednesday.
Trump confirmed reports that he had described Netanyahu as “crazy,” saying he was “a little bit perturbed” that Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon was complicating US-led efforts to advance peace talks with Iran.
According to analysts, Israel seeks to inflict as much damage as possible on Hezbollah before a potential peace deal with Iran halts its offensive.
Netanyahu told CNBC on Wednesday that he and Trump were aligned on the goal of disarming Hezbollah to achieve peace between Israel and Lebanon.
The Israeli military also issued a new evacuation warning for the southern Lebanese city of Nabatiyeh ahead of new strikes, accusing Hezbollah of violating the ceasefire.
The M/T Lexie is the sixth ship the US military has disabled since its blockade of Iran began on April 13. The US military stated it had redirected 122 vessels seeking to enter or exit Iranian ports.
Over the weekend, US forces hit Iranian radar and drone sites, to which Tehran responded by targeting a military base in Kuwait it claimed was involved in the US operation.
Meanwhile, despite the ceasefire in Gaza, Israel has continued its attacks on the strip. Israeli strikes killed three Palestinians in Gaza on Wednesday, health officials reported, and the Palestinian militant group Hamas stated that ending such attacks was crucial for further talks on safeguarding a US-brokered ceasefire.
Politics Editor
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